DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0326
APPENDIX.
287
gallery one hundred and fifty feet long. The following admea
surements -were taken by a British officer of engineers : —
Great Chamber.
Feet.
Inches.
Length
34
4
Breadth
17
o$
Sarcophagus.
Length
6
6
Height
3
5*
Thickness of stone
0
6
Width within side
2
2j
Depth, ditto
2
8
He does not believe that any of the Pyramids have been
" finished according to the original design ;" and he adds, " that
the lower parts or foundations interiorly seem to have been formed
of the incrustations of the rocky surface, which is perceptible in
several places in the interior." He then states, " that the Sphinx
had been hewn out of the solid rock," and that " it was supported
by several large blocks of stone, which formed the lower part of
the bust, and which had been somewhat decayed by time;" that
" it was formerly conjectured that the head of the Sphinx was con-
nected with a body of proportionate dimensions, but the French,
by digging away the sand round its foundations, had demonstrated
the erroneousness of this opinion."1 He takes notice of the various
ruins, and of the enormous masses with which they have been
constructed ; and says, that in one of them a capacious and deep
Well had been found, which was entirely dry. Several of his party
ascended the summit of the Great Pyramid at the eastern angle,
and conjectured that the ranges of stones were about two hun-
dred, varying from two feet and a half to three feet in length.
DR. WILSON (1805),
In his " History of Egypt," adverts to the Pyramids of Gizeli,
' The French are not supposed to have made any considerable excavations or
discoveries about the Sphinx, which was opened by Mr. Salt and M.Caviglia in
1817; but it appears that when Dr. Whitman saw it, some of the sand had been re-
moved, as he describes the substructure, although he did not perceive the body of
d'e image.
287
gallery one hundred and fifty feet long. The following admea
surements -were taken by a British officer of engineers : —
Great Chamber.
Feet.
Inches.
Length
34
4
Breadth
17
o$
Sarcophagus.
Length
6
6
Height
3
5*
Thickness of stone
0
6
Width within side
2
2j
Depth, ditto
2
8
He does not believe that any of the Pyramids have been
" finished according to the original design ;" and he adds, " that
the lower parts or foundations interiorly seem to have been formed
of the incrustations of the rocky surface, which is perceptible in
several places in the interior." He then states, " that the Sphinx
had been hewn out of the solid rock," and that " it was supported
by several large blocks of stone, which formed the lower part of
the bust, and which had been somewhat decayed by time;" that
" it was formerly conjectured that the head of the Sphinx was con-
nected with a body of proportionate dimensions, but the French,
by digging away the sand round its foundations, had demonstrated
the erroneousness of this opinion."1 He takes notice of the various
ruins, and of the enormous masses with which they have been
constructed ; and says, that in one of them a capacious and deep
Well had been found, which was entirely dry. Several of his party
ascended the summit of the Great Pyramid at the eastern angle,
and conjectured that the ranges of stones were about two hun-
dred, varying from two feet and a half to three feet in length.
DR. WILSON (1805),
In his " History of Egypt," adverts to the Pyramids of Gizeli,
' The French are not supposed to have made any considerable excavations or
discoveries about the Sphinx, which was opened by Mr. Salt and M.Caviglia in
1817; but it appears that when Dr. Whitman saw it, some of the sand had been re-
moved, as he describes the substructure, although he did not perceive the body of
d'e image.